[UPDATED] GE15: MIC pulling out?

KUALA LUMPUR – A seat dispute is threatening to derail Barisan Nasional’s (BN) chances in the general election (GE15) with speculation that component party MIC is refusing to accept any seats as it feels short-changed over seat allocations.

If MIC does not show up at BN’s naming of candidates tonight, then it can be read as a confirmation that the Indian-based party is planning to sit out GE15.

“They are holding Umno to ransom to give them more seats by nomination day on Saturday,” said a source.

“The MIC leadership has called for an emergency meeting of the central working committee (CWC) tomorrow.”

A party insider has confirmed that an emergency CWC meeting will be held tomorrow morning to discuss the matter.

“They (MIC leaders) will have a clearer picture on what will happen for the party going into GE15 after the meeting tomorrow. Let’s wait for the CWC meeting tomorrow,” said the source.

MIC was expecting to contest in 10 parliamentary and three state seats, though apparently Umno is now deciding to offer only five parliamentary seats, according to sources.

The infighting in BN seems to be coming to a boil following reports that Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is reneging on a pledge that Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob will continue to be prime minister should BN win the election.

Candidates linked to Ismail Sabri were dropped from the party’s line-up.

The Vibes reported yesterday that candidates who were given the “surat watikah” (candidate appointment letters) were also given a “surat aku janji” that mandates Zahid to form the next government.

Meanwhile, it is understood several Umno operation centres have been closed due to seat allocation disputes and axed incumbents. 

This includes Perlis’ Arau, where Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim is the incumbent MP, and Ketereh in Kelantan, which is Tan Sri Annuar Musa’s stronghold.

Also closed is BN’s Ampang operation centre as it is understood the seat may now go to MCA.

By 9pm, no MIC leaders were seen at the World Trade Centre here as the BN event kicked off.

However, during tonight’s event, Zahid announced at least 10 MIC candidates for parliamentary seats. 

They are: 

Padang Serai – Datuk C. Sivarraajh 
Sg Siput – Tan Sri S. Vigneswaran (MIC president)
Tapah – Datuk Seri M. Saravanan (MIC deputy president)
Teluk Intan – Datuk T. Murugiah
Hulu Selangor – Datuk T. Mohan
Kota Raja – Kajendran Doraisamy
Kuala Langat – Datuk Mohana Muniandy Raman
Batu – Datuk A. Kohilan Pillay
Port Dickson – Datuk P. Kamalanathan
Segamat – Ramasamy Muthusamy – The Vibes, November 1, 2022